Thomas Pettit  '46

Thomas Henry Pettit, MD, 76, succumbed March 10, 2005 to the ravages of Alzheimer's disease.  He was born January 20, 1929 to Dr. & Mrs. William A. Pettit Sr.

Dr. Tom Pettit, although born in Salt Lake City, Utah was raised in South Pasadena, California where his father Dr. William A. Pettit was Pasadena Stake President.  Tom's mother, Mildred Pettit, was the composer of the music of many primary songs.  These were three of Tom's favorites, "I Am a Child of God", "The Light Divine" and "Beauty Everywhere", which were sung by Tom's grandchildren at his funeral service.

Tom played the trumpet in a dance and marching band at South Pasadena High and was editor of the newspaper.  He graduated from Pasadena City College and UCLA and was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Honorary Society.  He served a Mission in southern France from 1949 to 1951 for his church.  He married Betty Ann Dain, of El Monte, California on June 12, 1953.

He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1955 with the Spencer Morris prize for excellence.  He served as a US Navy Medical Officer, stationed with the Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton, CA from 1956 to 1958.  After his service he trained as a resident in ophthalmology at Barnes Hospital, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.  He served an Ophthalmology Fellowship in San Francisco for one year after which he joined the faculty of the University of California at Los Angeles in 1963.  Tom retired from the UCLA faculty at the Jules Stein Eye Institute in 1991 after an illustrious career as a Professor of Ophthalmology for almost thirty years.

While on the UCLA faculty his career was highlighted with the Chairmanship of the American Board of Ophthalmology.  While serving as Associate Director of the Eye Institute he wrote chapters in books and was on editorial boards of various ophthalmology journals in addition to his private practice and teaching responsibilities at the university.  Tom traveled with his wife around the world lecturing in many countries.  His life's work was donated by his wife to Deseret Internationale, where it is being used by Third World Countries to elevate the quality of eye care.

He leaves his wife, Betty Ann Dain Pettit; his six children, Thomas Pettit Jr. of Orem, Utah, Heather Johnson of Temecula, California, Daina Pettit of Hollady, UT, Drucilla Beck of Provo, Elizabeth Jeppesen of Provo, Kristen Gunsay of Vancouver, British Columbia, and 23 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.  Interment was at East Lawn Memorial Hills Cemetery in Provo.